Zeke's Training: The Brawler vs the Ultimate Shield
It was the day after the Grand Magic Games, Zeke was taking some time off by relaxing at in the city of Crocus, wanting to stay nearby his guild in case any new jobs became available. Taking in the recent events that had transpired in the last four days, growing more agitated at the results as he begins to lean back on his chair, letting his legs rest on the table while leaning back even further. Sitting all the way at the back of the bar, he began pondering on his current standing in his Guild, Zeke lunges his leg high up at the air, smashing it downward, breaking the table in half in a thunderous fit, drawing the attention of the entire populace residing within the bar as a result. Storming out the bar, he walks along the city, heading back to his guild for a change of scenery. As much as he tried relax, Zeke couldn't help but feel dissatisfied with how he handled himself during the tournament, making it painfully obvious that Zeke required more experience to compete, and even more training if he was going to pick up the slack for next time. Barging through Dragon Gunfire's doors, he makes his way to the job board, skimming through the numerous errands and jobs in order to take his mind off his problems. A hand touched Zeke's shoulder as he looked upon the job board. He turned to see his guild master, William Mercury. "Hello young one," he said. "You must be bitter about how the Grand Magic Games turned out. The others are too. Matthew's taking it the worst." He led Zeke to the gym. Unlike normally, it was completely empty, except for one. "Japetus here has agreed to train with you." The mage sneered at his target. "So, you're the one that lost us the GMG? Makes sense, you look weak. I should've been on the team instead." He turn to face the source of the voice, being none other his fellow guild mate, the "ultimate shield" of Dragon Gunfire, standing in the middle of the gym to greet him. Tucking in his hands inside his jacket, Zeke slowly walks his way to meet Japetus face-to-face, with a single pulsing vein appearing along his temple, signifying his famous temper flaring up. "If were being honest, I lost on a technicality, but if we fought, there wouldn't be any rules stopping me from kicking your ass pretty boy," he turns to face his guild master, displaying a sense of minor annoyance that was overpowered by his confusion as to why he was brought here. "Why are we here master Mercury? I'm not in any trouble am I?" He turns his body over to face his guild master, wondering the purpose of him bringing him here. "Oh quite the contrary," said William. "As a matter of fact, despite not winning both of your fights, Jason still spoke highly of your abilities in the Grand Magic Games. But you lack a certain finesse necessary for winning battles. So, I'm going to train you. Although you're not quite ready to fight me yet, Japetus here was more than willing to spar with you. He's bitter that I chose you for the team instead of him." He said the last sentence telepathically to Zeke. Japetus stood behind them, filing his fingernails, briefly looking over at his master and guild mate before going back to what he was doing. He glances over at Japetus, sizing him up by carefully examining him, trying his best to measure himself up to him, noting that he had a vastly higher margin of experience than himself, giving him a disadvantage. Scratching his head at the prospect of fighting, Zeke accepts William's proposal of sparring with Japetus, taking off his jacket by lunging it across the gym floor. Raising his fists up in the air, wearing nothing but a red shirt, Zeke confronts his sparing partner in redied position, giving his opponent time to prepare. In a repeated fashion, he begins to jump in place, kicking off the floor with one leg then the other, warming himself up before getting started, "Okay then, come at me bro." Japetus looked at his opponent, completely unenthused. He ceased filing his nails, putting his nail file in his pocket. He gave Zeke a condescending grin. "No, after you." He hadn't even gotten into a stance to prepare for a fight. He was just standing there, arms out, wide open for attack. Zeke leaps forward, sprinting toward his opponent while running his fingers through the ground, punching the hard surface to throw himself in the air, lunging himself forward while charging in with his knee. However, instead of directly falling on top of him, he lands straightly on the ground directly in front of Japetus, the hard impact destroying the ground, resulting with rocks and a cloud debris rising to surround them, using this opportunity to hide himself in order to move in with a powerful right jab headed toward his lower abdomen. The dust settled, and Japetus was still standing in the same spot. Zeke's fist had connected, but the area he had struck had suddenly turned black and took on a metallic luster. "Is that all?" asked Japetus. The area had suddenly increased in density, which would likely have served more so to hurt Zeke himself than his target. "Weak little punches like that won't do jack to me." Japetus' leg hardened as well, as he aimed a kick towards the bottom of Zeke's chin, aiming to send him backwards several meters before he could recuperate from the pain he had caused himself. Leaning toward the opposite side, Zeke jumps backward in order to separate himself from him so as to dodge his attack, nearly hitting him square in the jaw as a result. As he takes the time to realize what had happened, his hand was throbbing with pain, as if he had punched a solid brick wall, noticing the area along his leg and abdomen being discolored to the point of appearing to possesses a black, metallic-like surface. With a hardened sense of durability, Zeke immediately recognized for what it was, and he knew what his next course of action should be. "Not bad, but that hard on isn't going to stop me," as he spoke, his magical aura began to flare up around his hands and legs, slolsy surrounding his body, employing the most basic use of Fighting Magic, Aura Shell, a spell that bolstered his offensive power while enhancing the basic properties of his fists. Leaning on his right foot, he explodes in place, rapidly making his way to Japetus by striding left to right, with his right fist coming in strong while keeping his left in reserve. Japetus' eyes followed his opponent as Zeke attempted to land a more successful blow on him. As Zeke finally launched his next attack, Japetus held out his own hand, catching Zeke's fist, and latching down on it with an iron grip. "It's more than just hardening." He continued to tighten his grip on Zeke, his sharpened fingernails aiming to pierce through Zeke's skin and draw blood. "Physical guys like you are useless against my defense. Why do you think they call me the Ultimate Shield?" "You should know, I'm more than just physical," flexing his muscles along his arms, he transfers over most of his magical aura along his entrapped hand, expanding it into a growing orb outstretching into his clenched hand, bursting to the point of becoming too large to contain, breaking away from his grip by expanding his magical aura across the surface of his body. With his newfound freedom, he does the complete opposite of what an rational person would do: confront his attacker. Leaning in toward Japetus, he turns his cheek and points his finger directly toward it, "right here, give me your best shot." Taunting his opponent, Zeke was giving him a free shot, while at the same time, the nature of his magic was slowly beginning to change in properties during the entire exchange. "Alright then!" said Japetus with a massive grin. He hardened his entire arm, externally and internally, before aiming a jab, palm open and fingers together, towards Zeke's chest. His aim was to pierce through Zeke's aura shell, and sink his nails into his target's neck. He'd stop himself from cutting any major arteries, but Zeke would be left in a rather dangerous situation. Also, if Zeke attempted to send his attack back against him, Japetus' Magic had an extra defense against spells of that kind.